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Don Leo Jonathan
|birth_place= Hurricane, Utah |death_date= |death_place= Langley, British, Columbia |resides= Langley, British Columbia |billed= Salt Lake City, Utah |trainer= Brother Jonathan |debut= 1949 |retired= 1980 }} Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018) (more commonly known as Don Leo Jonathan) was an American professional wrestler. Career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" and billed from Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the greatest big men ever to compete in the sport of wrestling, having shown amazing agility for his size (such as performing backflips, standing dropkicks, cartwheels, kip-ups and somersaults over the top rope into a standing position) and capturing championships wherever he wrestled. A second generation star (his father was former wrestler Brother Jonathan), Jonathan made his pro debut in 1949. Over the course of his career, he competed around the world, making stops in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan; his greatest accomplishments, however, took place in the United States and Canada, where he wrestled most often. His first championship wins occurred in Montreal with the International Wrestling Association, where he twice captured their International Heavyweight title; Montreal was also the scene of one of his greatest bouts later on, when he faced André the Giant in a September 7, 1972 match billed as the "Battle of the Giants" (André won the match by DQ). Elsewhere in Canada, Jonathan found more success competing in Toronto's NWA affiliate Maple Leaf Wrestling (where he first teamed with Gene Kiniski to win the Canadian Open Tag Team title, in 1959) and in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he wrestled for NWA member Alex Turk Promotions (twice winning their International Tag Team title) and for the American Wrestling Association (where he won the World Tag Team title with Verne Gagne in 1967). Jonathan also got a taste of World heavyweight gold when he won the AWA-affiliated Omaha, Nebraska territory's version of the World title three times in 1961. Canada eventually became home to Jonathan in the early 1960s as he settled in the Vancouver, British Columbia suburb of Langley. Making Vancouver his home base, he competed frequently for NWA All-Star Wrestling, winning five Pacific Coast Heavyweight titles between 1970 and 1977, the NWA World Tag Team title (with Dominic DeNucci) in 1966, and a record 18 Canadian Tag Team titles between 1964 and 1978, as well as challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against such titleholders as Kiniski, Dory Funk, Jr. and Jack Brisco; he also engaged in feuds with Kiniski and Dutch Savage in All-Star, as well as teaming with them. Late in his career, he appeared as one of the wrestlers in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley. Jonathan wrestled his final match, teaming with André the Giant and Roddy Piper to defeat The Sheepherders and Buddy Rose in Vancouver on March 10, 1980, before retiring from the ring that year. On November 5, 2005, he appeared at an event in Surrey, British Columbia, presented by Top Ranked Wrestling (prior to its purchase by ECCW) to be honored in a special ceremony for his contributions to the sport. On May 20, 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York. Significant feuds *Killer Kowalski *Yvon Robert *"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers *André the Giant *Gene Kiniski *Pat O'Connor *Dutch Savage *"Bulldog" Bob Brown *Pedro Morales Championships and accomplishments *'Alex Turk Promotions' :*NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg version) (2 times) – with Whipper Billy Watson (1) and Jim Hady (1) *'American Wrestling Alliance' :*AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'American Wrestling Association' :*[[World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha version)|AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha version)]] (3 times) :*AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Verne Gagne *'Catch Wrestling Association' :*CWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Cauliflower Alley Club' **Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2007) *'European Wrestling Union' :*EWU World Super Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Grand Prix Wrestling' :*GPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'International Wrestling Alliance (Australia)' :*IWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Antonio Pugliese *'International Wrestling Association (Montreal)' :*IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Maple Leaf Wrestling' :*NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gene Kiniski *'Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio)' :*MWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ray Stern *'NWA All-Star Wrestling' :*[[NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)|NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)]] (18 times) – with Kinji Shibuya (1), Roy McClarty (1), Gene Kiniski (1), Jim Hady (1), Haystacks Calhoun (2), Dominic DeNucci (1), Rocky Johnson (1), Sky-Hi Jones (1), Paddy Barrett (1), Johnny Kostas (1), John Tolos (1), Duncan McTavish (1), Steven Little Bear (1), Jimmy Snuka (1), John Anson (1), Dutch Savage (1), and John Quinn (1) :*[[NWA Pacific Coast (Vancouver) Heavyweight Championship|NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version)]] (5 times) :*[[NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)|NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)]] (1 time) – with Dominic DeNucci *'NWA Los Angeles' :*NWA International Television Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Lord Carlton and Fred Blassie *'Southwest Sports, Inc.' :*NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time) :*NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Stampede Wrestling' :*[[NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version)|NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version)]] (2 times) :*Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame *'Worldwide Wrestling Associates' :*WWA United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Fred Blassie *'Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame' :*Television Era in 2006 *'Other Titles' :*West Virginia Heavyweight Championship (1 time) External links *Don Leo Jonathan article at Slam! Sports - Wrestling *Don Leo Jonathan honored by Top Ranked Wrestling *Don Leo Jonathan interview at Dutch Savage.com *Don Leo Jonathan at the internet movie database * Profile Category:1931 births Category:1949 debuts Category:1980 retirements Category:2018 deaths Category:American wrestlers Category:Utah wrestlers Category:Alex Turk Promotions alumni Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:American Wrestling Association alumni Category:Catch Wrestling Association alumni Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni Category:Continental Wrestling Association alumni Category:Eastern Sports Association alumni Category:Maple Leaf Wrestling alumni Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:NWA All-Star Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Big Time Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Detroit alumni Category:NWA Hollywood Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Los Angeles alumni Category:NWA Western States Sports alumni Category:Pacific Northwest Wrestling alumni Category:Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Category:St. Louis Wrestling Club alumni Category:Stampede Wrestling alumni Category:World Class Wrestling Association alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:Worldwide Wrestling Associates alumni Category:Male wrestlers Category:Wrestlers who have died